Londoners let their hair down at Notting Hill carnival	诺丁山狂欢节拉开帷幕 伦敦警方加强安保
A young performer parades in a Jamaican costume at the Notting Hill Carnival in west London, Monday Aug. 29, 2005. Thousands danced in baking sunshine at London's Notting Hill Carnival on Monday at one of Europe's biggest street parties despite security fears after the London bombings. The 41st Notting Hill festival in west London's streets, a huge street party celebrating West Indian culture, was entitled "Unity and Diversity" this year to celebrate London's multiculturalism. The Caribbean-flavoured party comes less than two months after the July 7 bomb attacks that killed 56 people, including four apparent suicide bombers, in blasts on the subway and a bus. A July 21 repeat attack failed. "July 7 has changed London in many respects, but the one aspect that will never change is the strength of this city, and its diversity ," said Chris Mullard, the head of the organizing committee. "And nothing embodies this better than the Notting Hill Carnival." Notting Hill was filled with revellers Monday for the final festival day with thousands dancing in the streets to the beat of 40 sound systems dotted around. The carnival takes place in the once-poor, now chic streets of the district captured in the 1999 film Notting Hill starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant. Although police said there was no specific threat to the carnival, about 4,500 officers were on duty, including 500 officers on public transport, and 80 surveillance cameras were installed. Ian Blair, London's Metropolitan Police commissioner, said the event was going "very well". Carla Goodchild, 23, from Stevenage, north of London, was making her first trip to the carnival. She said: "I've been having such a great day. I've been doing loads of dancing, eating wonderful food and soaking up the atmosphere. "Seeing all the floats and all the people in their costume is just incredible. Debi Gardner, a board director of the London Notting Hill Carnival, said 200,000 people attended the festival on Sunday and organisers were expecting at least triple that during Monday's public holiday. "If we get a million people that will be amazing," she said. The festival was originally launched in 1959 by post-World War II immigrants from what were then Britain's Caribbean colonies, as a community act of defiance after ugly race riots the year before. It was held in various parts of London for a number of years before settling permanently in Notting Hill in 1964.    (Agencies)	尽管伦敦爆炸事件给人们带来的恐慌还没完全消散，本周一，仍然有数千伦敦人冒着炎炎烈日走上街头，参加一年一度的伦敦诺丁山狂欢节，这是全欧洲最大规模的街头盛会之一。 今年第41届诺丁山狂欢节在伦敦西部的街道举行，这一街头文化艺术盛会旨在纪念和弘扬西印度文化。为了体现伦敦文化的多样性，本届诺丁山狂欢节的主题为“一致性与多样化”。 7月7日，也就是不到两个月前，伦敦发生了严重的地铁和公交车炸弹爆炸事件，56人在爆炸中丧生，其中包括四名“人体炸弹”。此后，7月21日，恐怖分子曾企图在伦敦再次制造爆炸事件，最终没有成功。两个月后的今天，这个充满加勒比海风情的艺术盛会在伦敦如期举行。 “七七爆炸事件使伦敦发生了很大的变化，但是有一点却从来都没有改变过，那就是这座城市的抵抗力和多样性。”诺丁山狂欢节组委会主席克里斯·米拉尔说。 “而诺丁山狂欢节正是这座城市文化多样性的最好的体现。” 本周一，当今年的诺丁山狂欢节进入最后一天时，成千上万的狂欢者聚集在诺丁山，他们随着街上散布着的40套音响系统的节拍载歌载舞。 这个狂欢节的举办地曾经破乱不堪，而现在到处都是精致的街道，1999年由朱莉亚·罗伯茨和休·格兰特主演的电影《诺丁山》就是在这里拍摄的。 尽管伦敦警方表示诺丁山狂欢节没有受到任何威胁，但他们仍然出动了大约4500名警力参加执勤，其中包括500名在公共交通系统执勤的警察，另外还启用了80台监控相机。 大伦敦警察局局长伊恩·布莱尔说诺丁山狂欢节进行得非常顺利。 来自伦敦北部城市斯蒂芬艾治的加莱古·德柴尔德今年23岁，这是她第一次来伦敦参加狂欢节。 她说：“今天我玩得太高兴了，我一直在不停地跳舞，还吃了很多好吃的东西，尽情地享受了这里的节日气氛。” “那么多花车，那么多人穿着各式各样的礼服跳舞，这一切让我觉得难以置信。” 伦敦诺丁山狂欢节委员会主任德比·加德纳说周日有20万人参加了活动，组织者们预计周一开始的公共节日将至少吸引三倍以上的人群。 “如果到时候有100万人，那就太惊人了，”她说。 诺丁山狂欢节最早开始于1959年，当时，二战后来自英国加勒比海殖民地的移民们组织了这样一个节日，表达他们对前一年发生的恶意种族骚乱事件的挑战和蔑视。 直到1964年，狂欢节才最终将举办地确定在诺丁山，在此之前，伦敦的许多地方都曾经举办过这样的节日。 （中国日报网站 薛晓文译）